'Six Rotations': SEC Shines in Upset-Filled Week

Daniel Gillman and Mick Haley react to this week’s Top 25 coaches poll and break down which teams are separating themselves 7-10 matches into the 2026 season.

Daniel Gillman and Mick Haley react to this week’s Top 25 coaches poll and break down which teams are separating themselves 7-10 matches into the 2026 season. / Daniel Gillman

Every week until a champion is crowned, the YouTube show "Six Rotations" will be available here, with a brief rundown of the episode and the top upcoming matches around the country.

Another Week Filled with Historical Venues

This has becoming a recurring segment in the 2026 NCAA Women's Volleyball season, as another week witnesses unique and historic locations to play volleyball in.

In less than a month, we have seen this sport played in an NFL and MLB stadium, multiple NHL arenas, and now a legendary Philadelphia staple, "The Palestra", our first regular-season matches held outside the country in The Bahamas, and another in a New York City ballroom.

No. 9 Penn State climbed three spots in the AVCA/Taraflex Top 25 Coaches Poll after sweeping a Top-10 team in Stanford at the historic basketball arena in Philly on Friday night. Izzy Starck led a balanced attack, with three attackers recording 10 or more kills.

Then the weekend came, and sunny Baha Mar in Nassau, Bahamas, hosted three ranked teams (Kentucky, SMU, and Purdue).

Purdue swept Houston to claim the first regular-season win outside the country in NCAA Volleyball history... Then they swept SMU in Sunday's championship match (after SMU upset Kentucky in four sets Saturday).

Despite the loss, SMU sits at No. 5, their highest ranking in program history.

Another Sunday upset featured the first ranked win in Vanderbilt Commodore volleyball history, in another unique venue... Hammerstein Ballroom in the Manhattan Center played host to No. 18 North Carolina (now No. 25) and Vanderbilt. A 27-25 fourth-set win from Vandy secured the biggest win in the young head coaching career of Anders Nelson.

Volleyball fans in Texas also sold out the Moody Coliseum (6,207) in Dallas on Wednesday and saw a five-set thriller vs. SMU. Then, they sold out the Moody Center (10,294) in Austin, and Longhorn fans parlayed a massive football win on Saturday with a much-needed victory on the Taraflex Sunday over No. 6 Wisconsin.

The Badgers finished their non-conference gauntlet, facing No. 4 Kentucky, No. 3 Louisville, No. 8 Stanford, No. 2 Pittsburgh, No. 10 Florida, No. 15 Texas A&M, and No. 7 Texas.

The top two, @HuskerVB and @Pitt_Vb, are the same in the latest AVCA-Taraflex Division I Women's Poll.
After a pair of top-10 wins, No. 5 @SMUVolleyball earns its highest ranking in program history.https://t.co/CnX1E5OPaR#WeAreAVCA pic.twitter.com/UYmjtWIgED

— AVCA (@AVCAVolleyball) September 14, 2026

Week 3 @AVCAVolleyball / Taraflex Dl Women's Volleyball Top 25 🏐 #NCAAWVB pic.twitter.com/Ojyh1fPsfF

— NCAA Women's Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) September 14, 2026

The Week Ahead

After a few loaded weeks of ranked matches practically daily, we take a step back this week with a couple marquee matches headlined by the battle for Nebraska on Wednesday, and Kentucky on Sunday.

Wed, Sep. 16	Time (EST)	Location	TV
No. 1 Nebraska vs No. 20 Creighton	8 p.m.	Lincoln, NE (Pinnacle Bank Arena)	BTN

Thu, Sep. 17	Time (EST)	Location	TV
No. 8 Stanford vs No. 12 Arizona St	5:30 p.m.	San Luis Obispo, CA	ESPN+

Fri, Sep. 18	Time (EST)	Location	TV
No. 1 Nebraska vs No. 25 North Carolina	8 p.m.	Lincoln, NE	BTN

Sun, Sep. 20	Time (EST)	Location	TV
No. 3 Louisville vs No. 4 Kentucky	3 p.m.	Lexington, KY	ABC
No. 9 Penn St vs No. 16 Tennessee	2 p.m.	State College, PA	BTN
No. 15 Texas A&M vs No. 20 Creighton	5 p.m.	Omaha, NE	FS1

Next episode will be Tuesday, Sep. 22

You can find all archived "Six Rotations" episodes HERE